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    PetroChina Co Ltd, the country's largest oil and gas producer, plans to invest 800 million yuan to build an ethanol plant in Nanchong, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, its parent China National Petroleum Corp said. The ethanol plant has a designed annual capacity of 100,000 tons. ABCMoneyNews - December 21, 2007.

    Mexico passed legislation to promote biofuels last week, offering unspecified support to farmers that grow crops for the production of any renewable fuel. Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas said Mexico could expand biodiesel faster than ethanol. More soon. Reuters - December 20, 2007.

    Oxford Catalysts has placed an order worth approximately €700,000 (US$1 million) with the German company Amtec for the purchase of two Spider16 high throughput screening reactors. The first will be used to speed up the development of catalysts for hydrodesulphurisation (HDS). The second will be used to further the development of catalysts for use in gas to liquid (GTL) and Fischer-Tropsch processes which can be applied to next generation biofuels. AlphaGalileo - December 18, 2007.

    According to the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), Brazil's production of sugarcane will increase from 514,1 million tonnes this season, to a record 561,8 million tonnes in the 2008/09 cyclus - an increase of 9.3%. New numbers are also out for the 2007 harvest in Brazil's main sugarcane growing region, the Central-South: a record 425 million tonnes compared to 372,7 million tonnes in 2006, or a 14% increase. The estimate was provided by Unica – the União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúcar. Jornal Cana - December 16, 2007.

    The University of East Anglia and the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre have today released preliminary global temperature figures for 2007, which show the top 11 warmest years all occurring in the last 13 years. The provisional global figure for 2007 using data from January to November, currently places the year as the seventh warmest on records dating back to 1850. The announcement comes as the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel Jarraud, speaks at the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Bali. Eurekalert - December 13, 2007.

    The Royal Society of Chemistry has announced it will launch a new journal in summer 2008, Energy & Environmental Science, which will distinctly address both energy and environmental issues. In recognition of the importance of research in this subject, and the need for knowledge transfer between scientists throughout the world, from launch the RSC will make issues of Energy & Environmental Science available free of charge to readers via its website, for the first 18 months of publication. This journal will highlight the important role that the chemical sciences have in solving the energy problems we are facing today. It will link all aspects of energy and the environment by publishing research relating to energy conversion and storage, alternative fuel technologies, and environmental science. AlphaGalileo - December 10, 2007.

    Dutch researcher Bas Bougie has developed a laser system to investigate soot development in diesel engines. Small soot particles are not retained by a soot filter but are, however, more harmful than larger soot particles. Therefore, soot development needs to be tackled at the source. Laser Induced Incandescence is a technique that reveals exactly where soot is generated and can be used by project partners to develop cleaner diesel engines. Terry Meyer, an Iowa State University assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is using similar laser technology to develop advanced sensors capable of screening the combustion behavior and soot characteristics specifically of biofuels. Eurekalert - December 7, 2007.

    Lithuania's first dedicated biofuel terminal has started operating in Klaipeda port. At the end of November 2007, the stevedoring company Vakaru krova (VK) started activities to manage transshipments. The infrastructure of the biodiesel complex allows for storage of up to 4000 cubic meters of products. During the first year, the terminal plans to transship about 70.000 tonnes of methyl ether, after that the capacities of the terminal would be increased. Investments to the project totaled €2.3 million. Agrimarket - December 5, 2007.

    New Holland supports the use of B100 biodiesel in all equipment with New Holland-manufactured diesel engines, including electronic injection engines with common rail technology. Overall, nearly 80 percent of the tractor and equipment manufacturer's New Holland-branded products with diesel engines are now available to operate on B100 biodiesel. Tractor and equipment maker John Deere meanwhile clarified its position for customers that want to use biodiesel blends up to B20. Grainnet - December 5, 2007.

    According to Wetlands International, an NGO, the Kyoto Protocol as it currently stands does not take into account possible emissions from palm oil grown on a particular type of land found in Indonesia and Malaysia, namely peatlands. Mongabay - December 5, 2007.

    Malaysia's oil & gas giant Petronas considers entering the biofuels sector. Zamri Jusoh, senior manager of Petronas' petroleum development management unit told reporters "of course our focus is on oil and gas, but I think as we move into the future we cannot ignore the importance of biofuels." AFP - December 5, 2007.

    In just four months, the use of biodiesel in the transport sector has substantially improved air quality in Metro Manila, data from the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed. A blend of one percent coco-biodiesel is mandated by the Biofuels Act of 2007 which took effect last May. By 2009, it would be increased to two percent. Philippine Star - December 4, 2007.

    Kazakhstan will next year adopt laws to regulate its fledgling biofuel industry and plans to construct at least two more plants in the next 18 months to produce environmentally friendly fuel from crops, industry officials said. According to Akylbek Kurishbayev, vice-minister for agriculture, he Central Asian country has the potential to produce 300,000 tons a year of biodiesel and export half. Kazakhstan could also produce up to 1 billion liters of bioethanol, he said. "The potential is huge. If we use this potential wisely, we can become one of the world's top five producers of biofuels," Beisen Donenov, executive director of the Kazakhstan Biofuels Association, said on the sidelines of a grains forum. Reuters - November 30, 2007.

    SRI Consulting released a report on chemicals from biomass. The analysis highlights six major contributing sources of green and renewable chemicals: increasing production of biofuels will yield increasing amounts of biofuels by-products; partial decomposition of certain biomass fractions can yield organic chemicals or feedstocks for the manufacture of various chemicals; forestry has been and will continue to be a source of pine chemicals; evolving fermentation technology and new substrates will also produce an increasing number of chemicals. Chemical Online - November 27, 2007.

    German industrial conglomerate MAN AG plans to expand into renewable energies such as biofuels and solar power. Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said services unit Ferrostaal would lead the expansion. Reuters - November 24, 2007.

    Analysts think Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems, which pumped hundreds of millions and decades of research into developing hydrogen fuel cells for cars, is going to sell its automotive division. Experts describe the development as "the death of the hydrogen highway". The problems with H2 fuel cell cars are manifold: hydrogen is a mere energy carrier and its production requires a primary energy input; production is expensive, as would be storage and distribution; finally, scaling fuel cells and storage tanks down to fit in cars remains a huge challenge. Meanwhile, critics have said that the primary energy for hydrogen can better be used for electricity and electric vehicles. On a well-to-wheel basis, the cleanest and most efficient way to produce hydrogen is via biomass, so the news is a set-back for the biohydrogen community. But then again, biomass can be used more efficiently as electricity for battery cars. Canada.com - November 21, 2007.

    South Korea plans to invest 20 billion won (€14.8/$21.8 million) by 2010 on securing technologies to develop synthetic fuels from biomass, coal and natural gas, as well as biobutanol. 29 private companies, research institutes and universities will join this first stage of the "next-generation clean energy development project" led by South Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Korea Times - November 19, 2007.

    OPEC leaders began a summit today with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez issuing a chilling warning that crude prices could double to US$200 from their already-record level if the United States attacked Iran or Venezuela. He urged assembled leaders from the OPEC, meeting for only the third time in the cartel's 47-year history, to club together for geopolitical reasons. But the cartel is split between an 'anti-US' block including Venezuela, Iran, and soon to return ex-member Ecuador, and a 'neutral' group comprising most Gulf States. France24 - November 17, 2007.

    The article "Biofuels: What a Biopact between North and South could achieve" published in the scientific journal Energy Policy (Volume 35, Issue 7, 1 July 2007, Pages 3550-3570) ranks number 1 in the 'Top 25 hottest articles'. The article was written by professor John A. Mathews, Macquarie University (Sydney, Autralia), and presents a case for a win-win bioenergy relationship between the industrialised and the developing world. Mathews holds the Chair of Strategic Management at the university, and is a leading expert in the analysis of the evolution and emergence of disruptive technologies and their global strategic management. ScienceDirect - November 16, 2007.

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Monday, June 25, 2007

The bioeconomy at work: Braskem develops polyethylene from sugarcane ethanol

Braskem, the leading company in Latin America's thermoplastic resins segment and Brazil's second largest privately owned industrial company, announces it has produced the first internationally certified polyethylene made from sugarcane ethanol. Given the fact that petroleum-derived polyethylene is so widely used in our daily lives, this may be called an important breakthrough for the bioeconomy. 60 million tonnes per year of the polymer end up in hundreds of plastic products. We now have a bio-based, renewable alternative with a low carbon footprint.

Brazil has been ahead of most other countries in the development of a genuine bioeconomy in which oil-based products are replaced by renewable carbohydrate and vegetable oil based substitutes. Government initiative (with a fund of almost US$5 billion for the bioeconomy) as well as an innovative private sector that is being supported by a growing number of green scientists and agronomists, is leading to a real revolution that goes beyond mere ethanol.

Sugarcane remains key and is only gradually beginning to reveal its potential to yield products other than liquid biofuels. The humble crop is a goldmine of potential green chemistry products, ranging from bioplastics, detergents, tinctures, drugs, glues, gels, biopolymers and a whole range of molecules and platform chemicals. Major science organisations and companies are now investing in the production of bioplastics from sugarcane (amongst them the University of Queensland, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Metabolix.)

The good thing is that the crop thrives in developing countries, who know they now have a resource in hand that allows them to leapfrog beyond the petroleum era. In the future, they will rely on highly integrated biorefineries that convert biomass into a wealth of fuels, green chemicals and energy. A glimpse of this future in developing countries already comes from the tiny island state of Réunion, where scarce research resources are being invested in sugarcane based green chemistry and biorefineries (earlier post).

Certifiably green
The green polymer developed by Braskem - a high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the resins most widely used in flexible packagings - is the result of a research and development project that has already received some US$ 5 million in investment. Part of this amount was allocated to implementing a pilot unit for the production of ethane, which is the basis for the production of polyethylene, from renewable feedstock at the Braskem Technology and Innovation Center, which is already producing sufficient quantities for commercial development of the product.

The certification of the ethanol based biopolymer was conducted by a leading international laboratory, Beta Analytic, which certified that the product contained 100% renewable raw materials. This development by Braskem is aligned with its technological and innovation strategy and its commitment to fostering sustainable development, fulfilling the expectations of both Brazilian and international society for initiatives that contribute to reducing the greenhouse effect.
The leadership of Braskem in the green polyethylene project confirms our commitment to innovation and sustainable development, and creates a very favorable outlook for the development of plastic products made from renewable raw materials, a field in which Brazil has natural competitive advantages. - José Carlos Grubisich, Braskem CEO
The production of plastics from ethanol seeks to supply the main international markets that require products with superior performance and quality, in particular the automotive, food-packaging, cosmetics and personal-hygiene industries. Evaluations conducted in the initial phase of the project ascertained enormous potential for growth and appreciation in the green polymer market. Since both resins are equal in terms of properties and performance, the plastics manufacturing industry should benefit from this important development with no need to invest in new industrial equipment:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The project is now in technical and economic specification process and the startup of green polyethylene production on an industrial scale is expected in late 2009. The new unit will have modern technology and competitive scale, and could reach an annual production capacity of up to 200,000 tonnes. The location and industrial design of the unit will be determined within the next few months.

"Braskem is extremely proud to be at the forefront of a technological breakthrough that aligns the interests of the company, our shareholders, clients and consumers, and that above all else is a great source of pride among Brazilians", concludes Grubisich.

The number of bio-based platform chemicals is growing steadily. We now have replacements for virtually all basic compounds used most commonly in the petrochemical industry as far as plastics are concerned. Green alternatives now exist for some major types of plastic: for low and high density polyethylene (LDPE/HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), polyethylene teraphthalate (PET), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In fact, in several cases, the bio-based alternatives outperform their petroleum rivals on many properties (for an example, see Rilsan, a very robust castor bean oil based polyamide).

References:
Braskem: Braskem has the first certified green Polyethylene in the World - June 21, 2007.

For the properties of high density polyethylene, see its profile at MatWeb.

An overview of processing techniques and applications of HDPE, at Braskem.


2 Comments:

Anonymous khushal said...

We are Indian based business house
engagede in Polymer and PVC import and distribution business,along with in processing the same,we are intrested to know more about HDPE from sugar cane,wish to devlop this product technology in INDIA for establish plant to produce Eco friendly HDPE.capacity arround 2ooooomt.per annum.
We are expacting know-how,tie up with your esteemed organizetion.
Hope you will be in possition to offer the same.
Expecting early responce.

10:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK,
Thanks.

10:37 AM  

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